SPS Volunteer Award Ceremony 2023: Stronger Together, Rebuilding Lives

Singapore, 25 August 2023 – The Singapore Prison Service (SPS) honoured 491 volunteers and community partners who made significant contributions towards the rehabilitation of inmates and ex-offenders at the SPS Volunteer Awards Ceremony 2023. Assoc Prof Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of National Development graced the event, which was held at the Singapore Expo.

Held annually since 2007, the SPS Volunteer Awards Ceremony recognises volunteers and community partners whose dedication and contributions have made a positive impact in the lives of inmates, ex-offenders and their families. This year’s theme, “Stronger Together, Rebuilding Lives”, highlights the importance of community support in the inmates’ rehabilitation and reintegration journey.

SPS partners over 3,000 volunteers from 60 organisations, to provide a wide range of rehabilitation and reintegration support, including religious counselling, academic tutoring, life skills training and pro-social support. This year, the SPS Volunteer Awards Ceremony 2023 introduced a new ‘Throughcare Hero’ award category to recognise volunteers who have supported inmates through their incarceration and after their release. This year, SPS also invited family members to join individual award recipients at the ceremony, to celebrate the achievements of their loved ones.

“Our low and stable two-year recidivism rates are a result of the strong collaboration between SPS and our dedicated partners from the community. Their continued support is integral in helping us achieve our longer-term goal to lower the five-year recidivism rate. Many volunteers have come forward to give their precious time and energy to support the offenders from the time they are admitted to prison, until their reintegration into the community. We are glad to see that many ex-offenders have been inspired by the efforts of our volunteers and have returned as volunteers themselves to give back to the community. This is testament to the strong impact of our throughcare volunteer framework,” said Superintendent Ong Choon Yong, Senior Assistant Director of the Community Partnership & Family Policy Branch, Rehabilitation and Reintegration Division at SPS.